Combined tilting and swivel chair



(No Model.) I

. A. STEVENS.

COMBINED TILTING AND SWIVEL CHAIR. No. 355,280. .PadtentedDeo. 28, 1886.

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PATENT ASHER BQSTEVENS, OF NEW BRIDGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE ROCKER SPRING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILL.

COMBINED TILTING AND SWIVEL CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,280, dated December 28, 1886,

Application filed June 14,1880. Serial No. 11,702. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Asnna B. STEVENS, formerly of Stapleton, in the county of Richmond, in the State of New York, now of New Bridge, in the county of Bergen, in the State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Combined Tilting and Swivel Chair; and I do hereby declare that the following is a a full, clear, and exact description of the same,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making part of this specification.

This invention is in the nature of an improvement in combined tilting and swivel I 5 chairs. I do not of course wish to be understood as limiting myself to forms of details of construction, or in any way as waiving the use of proper equivalents.

The invention consistsin spiral-spring connections for chairs, in which the ends of the springs are rigidly held, as distinguished from being hooked or otherwise loosely placed, the spring operating in my case by deflection and the opening of its coils, to thereby unite the seat and base of the chair, substantially as hereinafter particularly set forth and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a partly sectional side elevation of one form of my invention. Fig. 2 is a top View of the same. Fig.

3 is a top view, and Fig. 4 is a section, taken in the plane of the dotted straight line in Fig. 3, of the bracket, showing cavity for spring. Fig. 5 is a side View of an'eyebolt sometimes employed as an auxiliary in connecting the parts; and Fig. 6 is a partly sectional elevation of one form of my improvement equipped with this eyebolt.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures.

A is a coiled spring of tempered steel arrangedimmediatelyabovetheswivel-screwB that is, in a vertical line corresponding to the center of the chair-seat, the point of least motion when the seat is tilted. This spring is connected at its upper end in any desirable manner to the under side of the spider C, and by its lower end to a bracket, D. To the spider C and to the bracket D are cast or otherwise fixed lugs E and F, and these lugs are widened and curved and notched, as at a, to form bearings on which the seat rests and tilts, the notches preventing the seat from slipping backward and forward on these bearings, the spring, however, forming the sole connection between the seat and its base.

To the spider and bracket, and on opposite sides of the spring, are fixed stops G and H.

'To the bracket D, and inline with the spring A, is secured the swivelsorew B.

Now, my device, constructed substantially as hereinbefore described, is operated by first securing the spider C to the under side of the seat-frame ofa chair and inserting the screw B in a nut placed in the base of the chair, as in chairs of ordinary construction,-and when the seat is tilted by the occupant of the chair backward it will oscillate on its bearings, and at the same time the spring Awill, by opening its coils, oppose sufficient resistance to the tilting to render the tilting motion gradual and not sudden, and the recovery of this spring or its coils to their normal position will facilitate the restoring of the seat to its horizontal position. The extent of this backward tilting 'is limited by the stops H and the forward tilting by the stops G.

By combining with the spring A, place centrally, as before described, the bearings on which the seat tilts, it will be observed that the weight of the seat and its occupant is borne by these bearings, and not by the spring, and that the spring renders the tilting gradual, so that the motion approaches the motion of a rocking-chair; and since this function of the spring in my chair is due to the opening and 8 closing of the coils of the spring only, rather than to a compression of the spring itself, the cohesion of the metal of the spring is but slightly disturbed andthe spring rendered more enduring. and its working is also largely due toits position in the place of least motion when the seat is tilted, as before stated.

The spring A, while it may be attached in any desirable manner to the spider and bracket, 5

before described, is preferably secured in po- This feature of the spring 0 I sition by cavities c and 11, formed in the spider and bracket, into which the ends of the spring are received, a socket being cast in the spider and bracket to surround the end coils, as shown; or a bolt with a yieldingjoint at one end may pass through the spring and tie the bracket and spider together. (See Figs. 5 and 6.) 1

\Vith reference to the stops, herein designated by the letters G and H, I wish to say that I do not claim such stops, broadly, my invention comprising them only when used in substantially the combination hereinafter claimed.

As my claims are directed to the iorm'of connection between the seat and base parts of the chair and the spring, it is' immaterial whether the spring forms the connection for holding the seat and base portions of the chair in alignment or not.

Having thus described my inventiomwhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a chair, of a seat having hearings on its under side, a base adapted to receive and support such seat and bearings, and an intermediate spiral spring having its end coils continued in substantially V the direction of the spirality and curvature of .the wire of the spring and connected to the base and seat portions by the rigid engagement of its said end coils with parts constructed to receive them, substantially as set forth. I

2. The combination, in a chair, of a seat having bearings secured to its underside, a base provided with bearings upon which said seat-bearings are supported and move, and an. intermediate spiral spring having its end coils continued in substantially the direction of the spirality and curvature of the wire of the spring and connected to the'base and seat portions by the rigid engagement of its end coils 'Wibll parts constructed to receive them, said spring serving to draw and hold the same together and in contact and operating by deflection and the opening of its coils, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a chair, of a seat having bearings secured to its under side, a base provided with bearings upon which said seat-bearings are supported and move, and an intermediate spiral spring having its end coils continued in substantially the direction of thespirality and curvature of the wire of the spring and connected to the base and seat portions by the rigid engagement of its end coils with parts constructed to receive them, said spring serving to draw and hold the same together and in contact and operating by deflection and the opening of its coils, the base and seat portions also being provided with intermeshing notched portions,substantially as described.

4. The combination, in a chair, of a seat havingjbearings secured to its under side, abase provided with bearings upon which said seatbearings are supported and move, and an intermediate spiral spring having its end coils continued in substantially the direction of the spirality and curvature of the wire of the spring and connected to the base and seat portions by the rigid engagement of its end coils with parts constructed to receive them, said spring serving to draw and hold the same together and in contact and operating by deflection and the opening of its coils, and a bolt provided with a yielding joint, substantially as described.

5. The combination, in a chair, of a seat having bearings secured to its under side, a base provided with bearings upon which said seat-bearings are supported and move, and an intermediate spiral spring having its end coils continued in substantially the direction of the spirality and curvature of the wire of the spring and connected to the base and seat portions by the rigid engagement of its end coils with parts constructed to receive them, said spring serving to draw and hold the same together and in contact and operating by deflection and the opening of its coils, and intermeshing notched portions and a connectingbolt, substantially as described.

6. The combination, in a chair, of a seat having bearings secured to its under side, a base provided with bearings upon which said seat-bearings are supported and move, and an intermediate spiral spring having its end coils continued in substantially the direction of the spirality and curvature of the wire of the spring and connected to the base and seat portions by the rigid engagement of its end coils with parts constructed to receive them, said spring serving to draw and hold the same together and in contact and operating by deflection and the opening of its coils, and front and rear stops, substantially as described.

7. The combination of a bracket and a spider provided with cavities, and an intermediate spiral spring having its end coils continued in substantially the direction of the spirality and curvature of the wire of the spring and connected to said bracket and spider by such end coils engaging the cavities therein, whereby the spring is rigidly secured by its end coils to the said bracket and spider, and draws and holds the said bracket and spider in contact and together, substantially as described. I I

ASHER B. STEVENS.

\Vitnesses:

H. L. WATTENBERG, G. M. PLYMPTON. 

